Mortgage rates slump to 2-year low — but consumers may not bite

Rates for home loans slid as investors snatched up bonds in the wake of an intensifying global trade war.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.28%, down from 3.46%. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.52%, down eight basis points. A recent study from Fannie Mae shows that most consumers “overestimate mortgage qualification requirements.” When asked the minimum FICO score lenders require for mortgages, the median response was 650. In fact, borrowers with credit scores as low as 580 may qualify for mortgages. When asked the minimum down payment lenders would require, the median response was 10%, when in fact many programs, including some backed by Fannie, allow borrowers to make down payments as low as 3%.

But the lack of financial literacy about mortgage lending may be a deeper problem than helping would-be buyers. As the researchers wrote, “Even populations that might seem to be more knowledgeable, such as current homeowners, those who say they are actively planning to become homeowners in the next three years, and those who demonstrate general financial literacy, are not much more knowledgeable than the rest of the population about mortgage requirements.

Here we go again.

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Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »